UPDATE: The puzzle is now complete! Thank you for your kindness and generosity! We feel so blessed to have you join us on this adoption journey!

So sorry for the delay with this update folks, but we had a bit of a surprise in our already busy summer! We just returned from our first (of two) trips to Bulgaria! Yes. We. Did!

Just to recap where things currently are with our adoption…

• We received our referral for a sibling group of 3 at the end of May!
• Bulgaria requires two trips for the completion of an adoption, and we received travel dates less than a week after our referral arrived, and we were scheduled to fly out on June 27.
• We were in country until July 4, where we met our children for the very first time! It was unbelievable to finally be able to hug them and to hear them call us “Mama” and “Datko” (Bulgarian names for Mommy and Daddy).
• We’re unable to share specifics about our children (as far as genders, ages, etc.) until the adoption is complete, but don’t worry…when that time comes…we’ll have so much to share and celebrate with you!
• We still have one more trip to make to Bulgaria, and they estimate 4-6 months before we go back. It was definitely tough to leave our kiddos, but we also knew the sooner we got back to the US…the sooner we return to pick them up.

Now that our adoption is moving along rapidly towards completion, and now that we know how many children we’re adopting…the rubber has met the road as far as finances are concerned. We have around four more grants we applied for that we’re waiting to hear from, but it could be another month or two before we know if we’ve been awarded anything. In the meantime, we’ve pressing hard to raise the remainder of funds we’ll need to complete the adoption.

We’re so excited to report the puzzle fundraiser has been a huge success. To date, 440 of the 500 pieces have been sponsored. We’re looking for the last 60 pieces to be sponsored by the end of July – if not before! 🙂

As a reminder:

• You can purchase multiple pieces. Example – for a gift of $100 towards this puzzle fundraiser, we will record your name on the backs of 10 pieces.
• You can ask for pieces to be named “in memory of” or “in honor of” another individual. Just specify names at the time of making your gift.
• Gifts can either be made by cash/check, our You Caring page, our AdoptTogether portal (for a tax deductible donation) or via Paypal. If paying by Paypal, please use [email protected] as the Paypal email address, and make sure to choose the box “send money to friends and family” to avoid a fee being assessed by Paypal. If you want to mail your check to us and need the address, please send me an email ([email protected]) or private message on Facebook.

Thanks for all the love and support friends! You are amazing!!

UPDATE: We are only $110 away from completely finishing this fundraiser! That’s only 11 pieces friends! You all have blow us away with your generosity! We would love to see this particular fundraiser closed by the end of the month (this Friday)! Would you help us finish up? Only $10 for a piece of the puzzle! See below for details on how to donate. Thank you!

Here’s another opportunity for you to become a piece of our adoption puzzle! We have selected a custom-designed puzzle of a picture very important to us…you’ve seen it a lot, I’m sure. Each piece of this 500 piece puzzle is $10, and we will record the name of each sponsor on the back of each puzzle piece. Ultimately, when the puzzle is completed, we will hang it in a two-sided glass panel frame in our children’s room, so they can always have a visible reminder of some of the people who helped to bring them home!

A couple things to note:

• You can purchase multiple pieces. Example – for a gift of $100 towards this puzzle fundraiser, we will record your name on the backs of 10 pieces.
• You can ask for pieces to be named “in memory of” or “in honor of” another individual. Just specify names at the time of making your gift.
• Gifts can either be made by cash/check, our You Caring page, our AdoptTogether portal (for a tax deductible donation) or via Paypal. If paying by Paypal, please use [email protected] as the Paypal email address, and make sure to choose the box “send money to friends and family” to avoid a fee being assessed by Paypal. If you want to mail your check to us and need the address, please send me an email ([email protected]) or private message on Facebook.
• We’ll be sure to post regular updates to keep you updated on how the fundraiser is progressing.
• We’ll take pictures of the completed puzzle and a few along the way!

We remain faithful to what God has called to us in this adoption journey, and He continues to bless us through your generosity. We still have a huge financial mountain to climb, and we’re nearing the end of our wait, so we press on until our children are home! Thank you!